IT’S looking like a bleak Christmas for Middlesbrough FC after it was revealed that the club’s record low attendances are worse than first feared.

The match attendance for last week’s game against Cardiff City was recorded as 17,232 - an all-time low for a league game at the Riverside.

But the true figures make for even more uncomfortable reading, with sources suggesting just 14,000 fans actually went through the turnstile for the Sunday game.

Like many clubs, Boro have admitted to including absent season ticket holders in their match-day attendance figures.

It’s a tactic which goes unnoticed when a club is winning games and filling its stadium, but it’s far more noticeable when crowds are on such a slide.

But perhaps most worryingly, the figures also suggest that many fans had already bought their tickets and still chose to miss the game.

Chairman Steve Gibson recently told the Gazette that he is “expecting attendances to plummet” as a result of the impending closure of the Redcar steelworks.

But what of the fans who had already parted with their hard-earned cash and still chose not to attend?

According to Rob Nichols, editor of the Boro fanzine Fly Me to the Moon, December is always a lean month for the football fan.

He said: “The fanzines always sell really badly in December and I’m only selling something for £1.50. It’s tradition.

“I think people tend to keep their pounds in their pocket at Christmas - even people who may have bought season tickets in advance because they’re still going to have to pay for things like petrol if they go to the game.

“There’s no doubt that it’s very worrying though, because Middlesbrough might go totally out of fashion in the area, and the area desperately needs its football club.

“We need to have Boro at the heart of the community. I’m just really hoping that things change in the New Year.”

Season ticket holder Andrew Leigh, who is a member of the Red Faction Supporters Group, says the low attendances have nothing to do with the current recession.

“People sold their souls to follow Middlesbrough in Europe,” he said. “One man I know sold his family car and ended up having to bike into work - just so he could follow his team abroad. People will always find the money to support their team.

“The Blackpool game was a pivotal point. People were so disgruntled on the walk back into town that they said ‘We might as well just watch the Cardiff game on telly’.”

According to statistics, Boro currently have the 10th highest attendance in the Championship despite having the third highest capacity in the league. So far this season, the club has sold tickets for around 57.5% of the Riverside’s seats.

Smaller clubs Blackpool and Scunthorpe may occupy the bottom two places in the attendance league table, but the clubs still manage to sell 87.3% and 74.5% of their seats respectively.

A Middlesbrough FC spokesman said: “All sales whether they be match tickets, Boro Pride or season cards are included in the match day attendance for each game.

This has always been the case and is common practice within the game.”

A Football League spokesman said: “This is not out of the ordinary and many clubs use similar practices to calculate match day attendances.”